Marguerite Lodato, Alex Coleman,
Melissa Coleman at the 2017 Reunion.

The picnic started in the mid 1950’s as a way to get together with families & cousins.  The male members of our families formed a club, it was called “The Loyal Order of Friendship”. The Lodato‘s, Santora’s, Emma’s & Siclari’s would get together once a month to play cards. Each month they would gather at a different family member’s house, smoke cigars, play cards & paid dues.  The dues were used to purchase the food for the picnics.  The picnics would always occur on a major summer holiday, Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day.  The Club members would put the event together, secure the location, do the shopping for the food, cook all the food… The Club members would arrive at Todd’s Point or Ward Reservation early in the morning, set up the grills.  Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner was served, the picnic took the entire day closing around 8 o’clock at night.  These picnics were full of fun for all ages & kept our lives intertwined.

As our families grew, the family picnics were held independently. Each family had their own gatherings.  The Lodato’s chose to celebrate the Family Picnic on July 4th  our family not only got together for Independence Day, we also celebrated Mario Lodato’s Birthday which was on July 2nd. Over the years several family members have opened up their hearts & homes to keep the Family Picnic a Tradition.

As time moves forward our families have grown large, many family members have past & we seem to have grown out of touch with our family members. We want to keep the tradition of getting together alive.  We want to continue the concept of Family, it’s what our Forefathers would of wanted.